Ding Dong Cake.

My roommate Melissa loves Ding-dongs so when I saw this recipe on Pinterest I knew I had to make it for her birthday.  I adjusted the cream filling a bit to make it sweeter and changed the frosting to an easy chocolate ganache because ganache is just delightful.

This filling can be used for any of those Hostess treats (ie. Cupcakes, Suzy Q's, Twinkies, ding dongs, cake rolls, etc).  Warning:  Nothing about this filling/cake is good for you. You have been warned. Also read all the way through before making to see some options.

"Hostess" cream filling

1 cup milk

4 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup butter, softened 
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup powdered sugar  (as needed)

 

Stir together milk and flour on medium heat in a heavy bottom saucepan until thick.  Set aside to cool.  Beat in a mixing bowl, butter and shortening for 4 minutes.  Add sugar and vanilla and beat an additional 4 minutes.  Beat in milk/flour mixture for another 4 minutes.  Taste, and if you desire a bit more sweetness add powdered sugar.

 

I made a devils food cake in 2 round pans. Layered the cream on top of one cake and topped with the other.  For the ganache heat up 1 cup heavy whipping cream in a sauce pan with 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips.  Stir until smooth and set aside to cool. 

 

 

What I should/could have done:  Left the layered cake on a cooling rack over a rimmed baking sheet and poured cooled ganache over entire cooled cake and let set, to make a smooth coating.

 

What I did:  Cooled the ganache in the refrigerator until thickened and  then frosted the cake.  This still tastes awesome and looks cool but doesn't look like a ding-dong with a smooth coating due to the cream oozing out the side and mixing with the ganache.  It still tasted awesome though.

 

 

 

Banana Cake

I had some leftover bananas and wasn't in the mood for banana bread so I had to give this cake a try.  AWESOME.

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream (I used fat-free)

1 egg

1 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 large or 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1 tsp vanilla 

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

 

Cream together sugar, sour cream, butter, egg.  Add bananas and vanilla, mix well.  Stir in salt, baking soda, and flour.  Pour into a greased 8x8 or 9x13 pan (I made mine a 9x13 pan it was a lot thinner but I was feeding a lot of people, still delicious but if you want a thicker cake use an 8x8 pan or double the recipe for a 9x13).  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.

 

I frosted my cake with a Brown-sugar glaze...

 

3 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp  brown sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar

 

Blend together melted butter, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla.  Stir in powdered sugar until desired consistency.  Spread over warm cake and serve.

Carmalized Garlic and Baked Brie

I recently returned from Las Vegas where I had a wonderful lunch at the Mon Ami Gabi restaurant at the Paris Casino and Hotel.

One of the appetizers we tried was the baked brie.  It was drizzled with honey, toasted hazelnuts, and caramelized garlic cloves.  Seriously so good, I couldn't even believe they were garlic cloves.  When I got home I wanted to try to recreate this delight and this combo is pretty darn close.

I adapted from the following sources: Baked Brie, Caramelized garlic.

Brie:
1 wheel of Brie (12-14oz)
honey
hazelnuts

Place Brie wheel in the center of a 8x8 glass pan.  Drizzle with honey and sprinkle hazelnuts over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-20 minutes until soft and hazelnuts smell toasted (it is okay to leave it in for awhile, the original recipe calls for 10 minutes I left mine in for 20).

Caramelized Garlic:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp cooking white wine (could substitute with apple juice or just water, but cooking wine is inexpensive, non-alcoholic, and lends the right taste)
2 Tbsp water
1/2-1 cup fresh peeled garlic cloves (I buy the fresh peeled cloves from Costco.  You a lot more garlic for just $1 more and all the hard work is done).

Place garlic cloves in boiling water and cook for 2 minutes.  Remove from boiling water and place in cold water to stop cooking.  This tenderizes the garlic.  Drain on paper towel.

In a heavy skillet, add butter, brown sugar, and cooking wine.  Place over medium heat and stir constantly until well mixed and butter melted.  Add water and swirl pan to incorporate.  If thickening too quickly turn down the heat.  Add garlic and stir to coat.  Allow to sauté while stirring occasionally over low heat until garlic is tender and the caramelization thickens up.  This takes about 10 minutes.

Spoon with a bit of sauce over the baked brie.  Serve brie with toasted baguette slices.

Eggplant Parmesan

I had never bought or used Eggplant but it was really cheap a couple of weeks ago at Winco and I remembered that any time I had eaten Eggplant Parmesan I liked it so why not make some.

This ended up being very easy!  I adapted a recipe from allrecipes.com.  My adaptation is for an 8x8 pan.

Eggplant Parmesan

1 medium-large eggplant, peeled and sliced

1 egg, beaten

1 cup of Italian breadcrumbs

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Prego Spaghetti sauce of choice

1/4 grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp dry basil

 

Slice eggplant into 1/3 inch slices.  Dip each slice in the beaten egg and then in bread crumbs.  Lay on lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until browned and tender.

 

 

In an 8x8 pan spread a layer of sauce on bottom.  Layer eggplant on top of sauce and sprinkle with some mozzarella cheese and some parmesan cheese (I like a lot of cheese so I didn't write amounts.  Suggested amount for whole recipe is 8 oz).  Layer sauce on top of cheese, and repeat with eggplant, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese until pan is full.  End with cheese on top.  Sprinkle with basil.

 

Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven (350 degrees) for 30-40 minutes, removing foil for last 5-10 minutes.  Serve with pasta or breadsticks.

 

 

Nutella Chex Mix.

Italy renewed my love of Nutella, so I decided to make some Nutella chex mix.

9 Cup of Chex cereal (I use Rice)
1 heaping cup of Nutella
2 Tbsp Butter
2 cups powdered sugar

 Measure Chex into a large bowl.  In a microwave safe bowl mix nutella and butter.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds.  Stir until mixed and smooth.  Pour over chex and toss until all cereal pieces are coated.  Pour over powdered sugar and toss until covered.  This stuff is super rich at first but the more you eat the more you just can't stop!


check it out.

I need to put a plug in for my favorite bowl....  The Tupperwear brand Thatsa Mega Bowl.  It is deep and has a lid so tossing things like Chex with powdered sugar is super easy.

United Cakes of America: Georgia

Georgia's Coca-Cola Cake
(apprently Coke was first born in Atlanta!)


2 cups flour
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup mini marshmallows (+extra for decoration on cake)
1 cup Coca-cola
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs

Chocolate frosting of choice.

Beat butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes until fluffy.  Beat in eggs, 1 at a time until incorporated.  In one separate bowl mix coca-cola and milk, in another mix flour, cocoa, salt, mini marshmallows.  Alternating wet and dry ingredients into butter mixture until all incorporated together. Pour into 2 greased 9in round plans or a 9x13 pan (DO NOT use as cupcakes, doesn't work well at all due to marshmallows being so sticky).  Bake at 335 degrees for 25-35 minutes until cake springs back when touched.  Cool for 20 minutes and frost with desired chocolate frosting.  Top with more marshmallows.

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

My first stop during the United Cakes of America tour is the St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake that is representing Missouri.

I chose this cake first because it was my friend Sarah's birthday and she is from St. Louis.  She loved it and I did too, although it is very rich.

I had to tweak a bit due to missing some ingredients and while the book says this recipe is for 1 12 inch cake round or 18 cup cakes I had it overflowing a 9x13 pan, thus also had to adjust the cooking time.

Here is my adapted version.  The book is awesome and I suggest you check it out.



Bottom layer:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 sticks butter (12 Tbsp), softened
2 cups white sugar ( I used the superfine as suggested and it gave the cake a nice texture)
3 eggs

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowel. Whisk together milks and vanilla in a separate bowl.

In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar, for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated.  Alternate mixing in flour mixture and milk mixture until all ingredients incorporated together.

Grease a 9x13 pan and pour bottom layer in place.  Preheat oven to 335 degrees.

Top layer:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
2 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 oz butter, 1 oz unsweetened chocolate-melted together

Beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add eggs, vanilla, milk, and powdered sugar and mix together.  Add melted chocolate mixture (okay is final mixture is lumpy) and pour over bottom layer in 9x13 pan. Bake for 45 minutes until browned edges.  Allow to cool 20 minutes for chocolate "gooey" layer to set.